CAGE questionnaire

The CAGE questionnaire is a set of four questions about a person's drinking habits. It is commonly used to test adults for alcoholism.^[1]

Because it is so short, doctors often start by using the CAGE questionnaire when they suspect that a patient may be an alcoholic.^[2] People can also do the CAGE questionnaire on their own.^[1]

"CAGE" is an acronym for the four questions in the test.

The test

The four questions in the CAGE questionnaire are:^[3][2]

	Question
C	Have you ever felt like you needed to Cut down on your drinking [drink less]?
A	Have people Annoyed you by criticizing your drinking?
G	Have you ever felt Guilty about your drinking?
E	Have you ever felt like you needed a drink first thing in the morning (an Eye-opener) to steady your nerves or get rid of a hangover?

Scoring the test

If a person answers "yes" to a question, they score one point for that question. If they answer "no" to a question, they score a 0.^[3]

If a person scores 2 or more - meaning they answered "yes" to at least two of the four questions - they are likely to have a problem with alcohol.^[4]

Scoring 2 or more on the CAGE does not automatically mean that a person is an alcoholic. However, it does mean that they need more testing to see if they are an alcoholic.^[2]

The most important question is the last one.^[1] If a person needs a drink in the morning to feel better, it means they are having alcohol withdrawal symptoms. This means the person's body is dependent on alcohol. (The person's body is so used to having alcohol that when it does not have alcohol, even overnight, the person gets sick.) This is one of the main signs of alcoholism.^[5]

Effectiveness

Many studies have shown that the CAGE questionnaire is a good test for alcoholism.^[1][4] For example, one study showed that:^[6]

• 77% of people who scored 2 or more on the CAGE were alcoholics
• 93% of people who scored less than 2 were not alcoholics

Related pages

• Alcoholism